The defending champion was made to work hard by Ebden, who saved five of the eight break points he faced and led 5-3 in the second set.

Federer, who saved two match points against Benoit Paire the day before, recovered to go 6-5 up and then broke serve to set up a meeting with American qualifier Denis Kudla, who beat Japan's Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 7-5.